Porn vs Drugs

I know a friend who discovered marijuana (Pot) at a young age. He also discovered that he could grow the plant at home. That way he could use Pot almost any time he was alone by himself.

He also discovered that Pot would calm his nerves and relax him whenever he was upset, stressed or bored.

As he got older he was exposed to a stronger drug. To avoid encouraging anyone to try this particular drug, I will just call it Drug X. He found that the reaction he received from Drug X was stronger than the reaction he received from Pot. Within a short period of time he became a regular user of Drug X.

In the course of experimentation, he discovered that if he combined Drug X with Pot his reaction was three times stronger than either drug by itself. So whenever possible he combined both drugs.

After a while he realized he had a full-blown addiction. Being LDS he finally confessed to his bishop. The bishop recommended a rehab program. The rehab program acknowledged that Pot was a drug but was specifically geared to help people deal with and eliminate Drug X. Pot was considered a lesser drug and not necessarily addictive.

In fact some trusted friends suggested that Pot would be a safe alternative to Drug X and that he should not feel guilty about continuing with Pot while he was overcoming his real addiction to Drug X.

To some degree he was able to avoid and become sober from Drug X, but he continued on with Pot not feeling that it was that big of a deal.

Neither the bishop nor those in the rehab program recognized that once Pot was closely associated with Drug X that it too would also became highly addictive. And that it would eventually lead back to the dependence on both substances.

One day when really stressed, he knew where he could go to obtain Drug X and so he once again gave into those two substances and the cycle started all over again.

Now let me tell that same story, but with only a couple changes in the wording.
I know a friend who discovered masturbation at a young age. Since it was private and secret he was free to masturbate almost any time he was alone by himself.

He also discovered that masturbation would calm his nerves and relax him whenever he was upset, stressed or bored.

As he got older he was exposed to pornography. He found that the reaction he received from pornography was stronger than the reaction he received from masturbation. And within a short period of time he became a regular user of pornography.

In the course of experimentation, he discovered that if he combined pornography along with masturbation his reaction was three times stronger than either by itself. So whenever possible he combined both masturbation and pornography.

You see both of these vices cause the body to generate its own drug to the brain. So in actuality it becomes another form of drug addiction. The only difference is that the drug is being generated from within the body rather than from outside the body.

After a while he realized that he had a full-blown addiction. Being LDS he finally confessed to his bishop. The bishop recommended a rehab program. The rehab program acknowledged that masturbation was not good but referred to the program as a “Pornography Addiction Support Group (PASG).” Masturbation was considered a lesser problem and not necessarily addictive.

In fact some trusted friends suggested that masturbation would be a safe alternative to pornography and that he should not feel guilty about continuing with masturbation while he was overcoming his real addiction to pornography.

To some degree he was able to avoid and become sober from pornography, but he continued on with masturbation not feeling that it was that big of a deal.

Neither the bishop nor those in the rehab program recognized that once masturbation was closely associated with pornography that it too would also became highly addictive. And once addicted, it can be harder to overcome than pornography.

One day when really stressed, he knew where he could go to view pornography and so he once again gave in. And the cycle of pornography plus masturbation started all over again.

Bottom line: We shouldn't concentrate on only avoiding pornography. To be successful, we must avoid all forms of lust and sexual addiction.